Some
stories are so universal, you can do practically anything to them, and their
inherent themes and charms still come through. Take Edward Dmytryk’s Broken
Lance (1954) as an example. The film is a remake of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1949
film House of Strangers. Except that House of Strangers was a black and white
film noir with Edward G. Robinson in the lead role, and Broken Lance is a
color, Cinemascope Western, with Spencer Tracy in the lead role. Yet, the same
basic story exists in both films – and if you know your Shakespeare, you’ll recognize
a lot of King Lear in these movies.

In
Broken Lance, Tracy stars as Matt Devereaux, the son of Irish immigrants, who
made his way West and has become a wealthy cattle baron. He has tried hard to
instill hard work into his four sons – the first three from his first marriage,
and the youngest, Joe (Robert Wagner) from his marriage to a Native woman (Katy
Jurado). His three eldest sons resent the old man – he has always driven them
hard, and paid them like any other cowhand on the ranch. He plans on leaving
the ranch to his sons, but until then he rules with an iron fist. The eldest
son Ben (Richard Widmark), is intelligent (his two younger brothers are dolts)
and wants to see the ranch modernized, but the old man is pigheaded and refuses
to budge. Joe has a more charitable view of his old man – probably because he
came along later, when Matt was already rich, so his life was easier than Ben
and his brothers. Perhaps
solely because of casting, Spencer Tracy is more sympathetic than Edward G.
Robinson was in House of Strangers. While in House of Strangers, Robinson is
more monstrous, and willfully commits criminal actions, and demands what he
knows is too much from his sons, Tracy is more Lear-like – basically a stubborn
fool who does not realize the damage his actions have caused to his family. It
also helps to make Tracy more sympathetic that his eldest son is played by
Richard Widmark – best known for playing snarling sociopaths. Although the
movie gives him reasons, and Widmark plays the role well, he is still very
clearly the villain of the piece. The film also changes the ending – set years
after the main action of the movie – and is a little less for it. The
fratricide in House of Strangers makes far more sense, than the rather random
ending of Broken Lance.

Broken
Lance is interesting in another way though – while not the first, it is
certainly among the first wave of Westerns to address racism in a real way. One
of the reasons why Matt cannot get out of his legal troubles, is because he is
married to a Native woman – and as a result Joe is a “half breed”. The
Governor, who Matt put there with his political contributions, tells Matt he
would be willing to appoint a “sympathetic” judge, if you he ensures that Joe
stays away from his daughter Barbara (Jean Peters). Later in the film, Widmark
lashes out angrily at Matt saying “did you ever ask me if I want an Indian as a
stepmother”. In Broken Lance, the most honorable characters are all natives –
Katy Jurado was nominated for an Oscar for her sensitive portrayal as Matt’s
loyal wife, Joe has a moral code he will not compromise, and Two Moons (Eduard
Franz) becomes the hero of the film in the late stages. It is, of course, one
of the ironies of old Hollywood films that even in a movie like Broken Lance,
which decries racism, that none of the Native characters are actually played by
Natives – still though, Broken Lance represents progress, a change in thinking
in Western about the way Natives were portrayed.

Broken
Lance is not quite a great film, although it is entertaining, well made and
extremely well acted. It is far more interesting if you’ve seen House of
Strangers and can compare and contrast the two films, and how Broken Lance is
pretty much effortlessly able to transport a film noir story to the Western
genre – keeping the darkness of the themes intact, even if it changes the
specifics. Broken Lance is not quite great – but it is very good.

About Me

I am an accountant, living in Brantford, ON - and although I am married and have beautiful daughter, I still find time to watch a lot of movies. This blog is mostly reviews of new movies - with other musing thrown in as well.